Make Some Noise....
When Victoria and Alexandria reached the baggage claim, Ted was there waiting for themâstrong and steady. It made Victoria feel guilty about the thoughts she'd been having about Parker.
“Daddy, Daddy!” Alexandria squealed as she ran toward her father.
“How's my princess?” Ted said with a smile, grabbing his daughter up into his arms as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. He tugged at one of her long, neatly braided pigtails and made her scream out with giddy laughter.
Victoria walked up to her husband and daughter, and they embraced for a family hug. Ted kissed her lightly on the lips and thanked God that the two most important people in his life were there by his side.
A few hours later, after Victoria tucked Alexandria in for the night, she and Ted held each other close as they lay in the bed of their presidential suite. Looking at his wife, Ted realized how much he'd missed lying beside her at night. It had been over a week since they had made love, and he was craving her, wanting her. He nuzzled his nose in the crook of her neck. “I'm so glad you're here,” he breathed out as his lips found hers.
They kissed, letting their tongues dance and caress each other's mouth in a slow, intoxicating rhythm. Victoria could feel Ted's erection growing. “We'll have to be quiet,” she whispered. “I left the door to Alexandria's room open.”
Unlike Victoria, who could sleep through a tornado, Alexandria had inherited her father's sleep habits and would awaken from slumber at the sound of cotton hitting the floor. But tonight her parents didn't have to worry, because she was exhausted from the activities of her weekend sleepover and an unexpected travel day.
“It's a good thing she's knocked out,” Ted panted with a devilish grin. “I think we're gonna make some noise.”
Victoria was surprised that with all the sadness and grief that had fallen onto his shoulders, sex was even remotely on Ted's radar. She knew that if the situation was reversed and she'd just lost her mother, romping between the sheets would be the last thing on her mind. But judging from the large bulge in his pajama bottoms, it was at the front and center of his.
She looked into his eyes and saw a mixture of hunger and need, and then she understood. He was crying out for comfort, for a release from his frustrations, pain, and uncertainty, and she was more than willing and determined to give it to him.
Victoria kissed Ted deep and hard, letting her hands roam his body as she soothed him under her delicate touch. Slowly, she made her way down his chest and stomach, lightly kissing in certain places and sucking in others. When she reached the hardened thickness between his legs that always gave her pleasure, she licked and teased and kissed and swallowed until Ted nearly yelled out.
He was a man of unrelenting control, but tonight Victoria's mission was to render him helpless so he could release his burdens. The only emotion she wanted him to experience was pure and intense pleasure. She prided herself on being the only person who could make him lose complete authority.
Ted could feel himself about to explode. “V, come here.... I want to be inside you,” he moaned, trying to pull Victoria up from his lower body.
But she refused to retreat. She wanted him to fully enjoy the heat that she was about to bring him. She was glad that Ted was an unselfish lover and that he didn't want to reach orgasm until he'd satisfied her first. But tonight she wanted him to think only of himself. She wanted him to reach nirvana, even if she didn't. He'd been through so much, and she was carrying such guilt, that she felt this act on her part would purge both their worries and troubles, at least for tonight. So she continued to suck and lick and envelope him in her warm, wet mouth, working the tip of his rounded head with her lips and tongue.
Ted dug his fingers into Victoria's scalp, pleading for mercy. His eyes were closed tight, and his body pulsated with pleasure. Finally, he released himself as he moaned, delivering on his promise to make some noise.
A few minutes later they were lying in the darkness, with Ted spooning her from behind. Victoria listened to her husband's heavy breathing and prayed that the remainder of his night would be restful. They'd switched roles, and now it was she who was up during the wee hours, trying to drift off to sleep. As she said a silent prayer for Ted, asking God to give him the strength to bury his mother, she said one for herself, asking for the strength to bury her desire for another man.
Yet Another Twist in the Bizarre Puzzle ...
The next morning Ted rose early, knowing that it might very well be one of the toughest days of his life. His mother's death was devastating, and her funeral in two days would without a doubt be the most heartbreaking thing he'd ever faced. But finding out the secret she'd been keeping, and dealing with whatever aftermath came from it, was something he was sure would be nearly as hard, and best left uncovered.
Ted dressed while Victoria thumbed through the room service menu, trying to decide what to order for breakfast, because Alexandria would be up soon.
“You sure there's nothing I can help you with?” Victoria asked. She put the menu to the side and watched Ted as he slipped his navy blazer over his tan polo shirt.
“You helped me quite a bit last night,” he said and winked, walking over and giving her a slow kiss on the lips.
Victoria stood in her silk robe and embraced him, inhaling his woodsy cologne. Even though Ted seemed to be in much better spirits than when he'd picked them up from the airport the previous night, Victoria could still see that he was emotionally fatigued. Death and secrets were a hazardous combination. He was about to go to the bank and open Pandora's box, and she knew that wouldn't be easy.
“Whatever's in that safe-deposit box ... we'll deal with it, together,” Victoria reassured him.
“V, what would I do without you?”
“You'll never have to find out.”
Her steadfast love and support made him smile. And he needed it, because it would be the last time he smiled for several days to come.
Ted adjusted his collar and grabbed his attaché. “After I leave the bank, Lilly, Charlie, and I are going to meet at the funeral home with the director. Then we'll head over to Abe's office,” he told Victoria. “My mother wanted her will read prior to her burial. It was a specific instruction.”
“
Really?
” Victoria asked with surprise. She thought it was a rather odd edict to make. But then again, many things about Carolyn and the life she'd led were beginning to seem stranger and stranger by the minute. Reading the will before the burial was yet another twist in the bizarre puzzle she'd created.
In Victoria's experience, a will was usually read after the last speck of dirt was thrown on the coffin. That way, depending upon the document's contents, disgruntled family members wouldn't be able to show their asses until after the dead person was six feet under. She wanted to ask Ted why his mother would give those instructions, but at this point she knew that his guess was as good as hers.
“After we eat and get dressed, I'll take Alexandria to the park. Do you think you'll be able to join us for lunch?”
“Probably not. It's going to be a long day,” Ted sighed. “I'll see you later this afternoon, but I'll call you after I leave the bank to let you know what I find out.” He gave Victoria another quick kiss, then headed out the door.
Victoria went to Alexandria's room and found her coloring in her favorite Disney book. She watched as her daughter doodled and dabbled, trying to decide which crayons would make the plain black-and-white canvas spring to life with color. She thought about what kind of secret her mother-in-law could have possibly been keeping, and it suddenly became much more personal, because whatever mystery Carolyn had been hiding over the years, there was a very real possibility that it could affect Alexandria.
Now Victoria became very concerned. Her mind raced, and she wondered,
If Carolyn's secret was so bad that she had to keep it until her death, who was she, and what kind of terrible thing did she do?
Without Blinking an Eye ...
An hour later Ted sat alone in a small conference room at Boston Private Bank, trying to digest the information in front of him. He'd been sitting in stunned silence for nearly a half hour since opening his mother's safe-deposit box and carefully examining its contents. He'd reread the documents over and over again, as if what he'd seen in black and white would somehow change. He had been prepared to find something shocking and had braced himself for any number of far-out, crazy possibilities. But nothing in his wildest imagination could compare to the reality that lay before him.
Ted wondered how his parents could have kept such a secret hidden for so many years. How could they have lived a lie for so long without blinking an eye? he wondered in silence. Then he thought about his father, the man he'd always respected for his character and strength. He'd been Carolyn's partner in crime, an accomplice who helped to keep their shared secret from everyone, including their own children.
Ted pondered question after question as new ones kept rising to the surface. His fingers grazed the faded documents, while his mind tried to grab hold of what the newfound information meant. He knew the implications would change his life forever, and the very knowledge of what he was now privy to already had. Again, more questions flooded his thoughts. Finally, he realized that he had to stop before he drove himself completely mad.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Mr. Thornton, is everything all right in here?” the branch manager asked, slowly opening the door. She stared at Ted as he let his mother's handwritten deathbed confession fall from his hands. “You've been in here for quite a while, so I wanted to make sure that you were okay. Does everything seem to be in order?”
“Yes, everything is fine.” Ted nodded, pulling himself together.
“Great. Then all you'll need to do is sign off on a few documents, and I can release the contents of the safe-deposit box to you.” The pleasantly plump woman smiled.
“Sounds good. Just show me what I need to sign.”
After Ted took care of the necessary paperwork and secured possession of his mother's documents, he walked out into the late morning sun, trying to clear his mind. He was running behind schedule as he maneuvered his rental car out of the bank's parking lot and into the rush of traffic. He knew he should call Victoria, as he'd promised he would, but the news was much too fresh and all too shocking to deliver. The only thing he could do at the moment was choke down his emotional confusion and concentrate on the many tasks that lay ahead.
And as he'd always done whenever he made a mistake or faced a challenge,Ted put the damage out of his mind and focused on how he would recover from it. For now, his immediate recovery meant meeting Lilly and Charlie at the funeral home and then heading over to Abe Brookstein's office for a reading of his mother's will, bracing himself for another shocker, which was sure to come.
You Don't Know What I Know... .
Victoria watched Alexandria as she played on the swings with another little girl, who looked to be around her age. They were at Boston Common, enjoying the beautiful park in the heart of the city. Alexandria and her new little friend jumped from the swings and became engaged in a spirited game of hopscotch. An older Latina woman, who,Victoria assumed, was the little girl's nanny, hovered close by. It was almost lunchtime, and she wondered how Ted was holding up.
She was certain that he'd found bad news in his mother's safe-deposit box, otherwise he would have called her by now. All morning long she'd racked her brain, trying to come up with possible scenarios. Had Carolyn killed someone? Did she have a criminal record? Had she been born a man and then had a sex change? These were all the questions that ran through Victoria's mind, but for the life of her, she couldn't imagine what could be so terrible that Carolyn felt the need to hide it, literally under lock and key.
Victoria was deep in thought when her cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and felt a little relief. “Hi, Mom,” she said and smiled into the phone.
“Sweetheart, you sound tired,” Elizabeth said in her always cheery voice.
“Yeah, I am. I had a busy weekend, and Alexandria and I arrived here in Boston late yesterday,” she said with a slight yawn. She hadn't slept all night, and now she was craving a few hours of rest.
“How's Ted? Is he there with you?”
“No. Alexandria and I are out at the park, and Ted left early this morning to take care of some business concerning the funeral and the reading of his mother's will. My guess is that I probably won't see him until later this afternoon.”
Victoria's mother shook her head on the other end. “It's a shame, I tell you. Seems like it happened so fast. One minute all was fine, and then the next, Carolyn's gone.You just never know when it's your time.”
“Well, it wasn't as sudden as you might think,” Victoria said, adjusting her oversize tortoiseshell designer sunglasses on her face. “Carolyn was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several months ago, but she never told anyone. Ted's sister didn't even know she was in the hospital until a few days ago.”
“Oh, no. That's just awful,” Elizabeth groaned. “Ted must be devastated.”
“Yes, he is. But you know him. He's holding up, trying to put on a strong face.”
“My, my, my ... besides losing a child, I don't think there's any worse hurt than losing a parent.”
Victoria heard the sadness in her mother's voice, knowing that she'd experienced the loss of her first child, a stillborn baby girl, and the loss of both her parents, whom she'd been estranged from for years, up until the day each of them died. Victoria felt a wave of emotion as she listened to the warmth of her mother's voice while she watched her own daughter laugh and play without a worry in the world. “Mom, even though he's trying not to show it, this is so hard for Ted, and I don't know what to say or do to ease his pain.”
“Sweetheart, I'm sure that just being there is enough. In times like this there's nothing you can say that will take away the hurt he's feeling or the enormity of his loss, but your presence will make him feel loved. And trust me, that's all he needs right now.”
Victoria held back the complicated emotions that were caught in her throat. “I hope that one day I'm half as wise as you, and that I'll make the right choices.”
“You don't give yourself enough credit.”
“You don't know what I know,” was Victoria's response.
Elizabeth knew her daughter through and through, and she could sense when something was bothering her only child. The tone in Victoria's voice told her that something was weighing heavily on her mind, something that went beyond the hardships of dealing with the death of her mother-in-law. “Sweetheart, what's wrong? Talk to me,” Elizabeth implored.
Victoria bit down on the inside of her cheek. “It's nothing, Mom ... really. I'm just stressed out from Gigi's wedding, Carolyn's death, and lack of sleep.”
“Gigi's wedding?” Elizabeth groaned, sucking her teeth. “I'm sure it was an event for the ages. Did anyone get arrested?”
It was the first time in nearly a week that Victoria laughed out loud. “No, Mom, but she did give Gary a lap dance at the rehearsal dinner, and then at the reception sheâ”
“Don't tell me any more,” Elizabeth interrupted. “That young woman should be ashamed of herself. I've read so many things in the newspapers about her and Gary making spectacles of themselves everywhere they go, hanging out in nightclubs and causing scenes. At first your father felt bad about us not attending the wedding, being that Gary is his oldest and dearest friend's nephew. But when he thought about the mayhem that might take place, we both agreed that a nice card and a gift from their registry was enough.”
“Again, your wisdom prevailed.” Victoria smiled. “Um, listen, Mom, I've gotta run. It's lunchtime, and I need to take Alexandria to get something to eat.”
Elizabeth knew that her daughter was withdrawing. It was what she often did when she didn't want to face a situation right away. She wanted to press Victoria about what was really bothering her, but decided that it wasn't the right time. “Okay, sweetheart,” she said, temporarily letting her daughter off the hook. “Tell Ted that your father and I send our prayers. Call me later and give me the name of the funeral home so we can send flowers.”
“I'll do that.”
“And, sweetheart ...”
“Yes?”
“Whenever you're ready to talk, I'm here to listen.”
Victoria held her emotions close. “I love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too.”
After she finished her conversation with her mother,Victoria and Alexandria ventured to a local deli for lunch, then shopped at a few specialty stores in the picturesque area. By late afternoon they'd both grown tired, so they headed back to the hotel.
It was after five o'clock, and Victoria still hadn't heard from Ted since he'd left their suite at eight thirty that morning. She wanted to call him, to make sure he was all right, but she knew he needed time to sort through whatever terrible secret he'd discovered about his mother. “Just be there for him,” she whispered to herself, repeating her mother's advice.